The Northwind is a personal website and blog for the exploration of the personal interests, the adventures, the successes, and the trials of its author. You'll find subjects from history, politics, and activism to technology, media, and video games.

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Oct 27 Pinterest

I tried out Pinterest when it was new, and I didn't really get it. I understood what it did, but couldn't find a use that I felt was purposeful or enjoyable. I closed my account within a couple of days. Recently I've been reinvestigating Pinterest, and I think I get it now. I've been thinking far too much about clothing and between us this weekend my partner and I purged four large waste bags of old clothing, three of which went for recycling and another is awaiting an opportunity to make a visit to one of the city's charities. This was only those items that could be discarded, and much of what is left will need to be replaced over the next several months. Part of this process for me is to reduce the amount of clothing I have to only the clothing I really need (with some accounting for unusual circumstances). It also means that the clothing I have left should all be clothing that I love - why have so little and not enjoy it.

Simplicity in character, in manners, in style; in all things the supreme excellence is simplicity.

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

So for the first time I've really been looking at clothing that is at least vaguely more expressive than a pair of jeans and an amusing t-shirt. Pinterest was pretty much made to facilitate and share this kind of collection. In some ways, my tastes have proven to be fairly predictable; but It's not so much about 'the look' as the execution. I really don't have a lot of experience with the selection of items based on image; I'm used to picking t-shirts because they amuse me. With Pinterest any time I find something that I think has some potential I can pin it to a board and refer to it later. Sometimes it may be a specific item, sometimes it's just something that looks a bit steampunk or dieselpunk, whatever I happen to think looks smart, or 'cool'.

The next time I'm flailing around ineffectually trying to buy clothes I will really have no excuse.